BRUCHSAL:

City in the grand duchy of Baden. Jews resided here as early as the beginning of the twelfth century. In 1337 the Jews of Bruchsal joined with those of a number of other places in paying an annual tribute of 700 marks (in lieu of the taxes levied) to the bishop of Speyer. They also lent various sums to the bishop, which money was credited against the tribute due. At the time of the Black Death (1348-49) many Jews of Bruchsal were martyred. During the Middle Ages and the Reformation the Jews of Bruchsal suffered in common with their coreligionists throughout Germany. Until the French Revolution the Jewish community numbered only one or two hundred persons; and there were never so many as at the present time (1902), when about 100 families are to be found in the place.

The most famous of the rabbis was David Friedberg of Mosbach, who officiated in Bruchsal from 1857 to 1871.